What I've learned after 8 years of procrastination.

I had been thinking of starting a blog for years. Every time I had an idea for a blog post I would add it to a running list in my notes app call “blog Ideas.” The hope was that whenever I start my blog I can reference all these great ideas. Now that I’ve actually committed myself to daily blogging I decided to pull up that list of ideas. Turns out there are multiple lists I’ve kept over the years. My first one dates back to 2013.

This would have been during my Freshman year of college. I’ve always considered myself a professional procrastinator, but procrastinating starting a blog for 8 years? I should get some award for that. 

But that’s the thing with procrastination. There is no award show for the best procrastinator. I don’t think we’d care much if there was one.

In my search for blog ideas, I found my most recent list of “blog ideas.” I wish I could say I had improved from 2013, but at the top of this list, this is what I had written:

“Start this when it’s time. You need momentum first. Right now, no one will read this, and none of this will bring in an audience.”

Geez, talk about Resistance rearing its ugly head. Sadly, I listened to those words of advice for a year. And after a year, I still have no momentum. And no one may read this.

But that’s not the point of this blog. Each metric was something out of my control. I can’t control if people read my blog or if people like what I write. It’s no wonder I didn’t start my blog a year ago or 8 years ago with that logic. If I continued listening to those words, I would never have started a blog.

If instead of putting that message at the top of my list of blog ideas, I began my daily blogging journey, I would have over 300 blog posts by now. Sure I would have written many blog posts that no one would read, but that’s the point. If I had started my blog back in 2013, I would have over 2,900 blog posts by now. 

What would life be like if I had published over 300 blog posts? Or even 2,900 posts? I’ll have to let you know in 2022 and 2029.

So, what is it I learned after 8 years of procrastination? Don’t procrastinate for 8 years. 

Procrastination is a form of Resistance. Steven Pressfield talks of Resistance in his book War of Art.

“Resistance is insidious. Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work.”

Resistance had grabbed hold of me. I was giving myself advice in the form of Resistance. I was waiting 8 years for the path forward to present itself for me. But how wrong I was. 

Ethan Hawke words it best in his TED Talk:

“There is no path. No path until you walk it.”

The only way to find your path is by walking it.

Blogging has changed the lives of many others as well. Austin Kleon, in his book Show Your Work, talks about the impact blogging had on him.

“One little blog post is nothing on its own, but publish a thousand blog posts over a decade, and it turns into your life’s work. My blog has been my sketchbook, my studio, my gallery, my storefront, and my salon. Absolutely everything good that has happened in my career can be traced back to my blog. My books, my art shows, my speaking gigs, some of my best friendships-they all exist because I have my own little piece of turf on the Internet.”

Seth Godin, one of the OG bloggers, talks about the most important blog post. 

“The most important blog post

It is on the most important blog.

Yours.

Even if no one but you reads it. The blog you write each day is the blog you need the most. It’s a compass and a mirror, a chance to put a stake in the ground and refine your thoughts.

And the most important post? The one you’ll write tomorrow.”

Seth Godin, Austin Kleon, and many others say blogging is the single thing that changed their life. 

I’m ready to change my life. Are you?

As always, thanks for reading this far. Are you looking to start a blog? Or have you been blogging regularly? If so, drop a comment below with your experience. I would love to hear from you.

Remember, make it a great day or not; the choice is yours. 

T